After missing the entire 2025-26 season up to this point, a Pittsburgh Penguins‘ prospect finally made his professional debut on Sunday.
Left wing Tanner Howe – selected 46th overall by the Penguins in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft – made his debut in professional hockey for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins of the AHL Sunday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He registered his first professional point – a secondary assist on a third-period goal by Owen Pickering – en route to a 6-2 for the WBS Penguins.
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He played on the second line with Aaron Huglen and Avery Hayes.
Howe, 20, sustained an ACL tear late last season that caused him to miss the remainder of his WHL season with the Calgary Hitmen as well as all of the 2025-26 season up to this point. In 47 WHL games between the Regina Pats and Hitmen last season – he was traded midseason – Howe registered 18 goals and 46 points.
He also had the opportunity to share the ice with Ben Kindel last season, the Penguins’ 11th overall pick in 2025 who is making an impact at the NHL level this season at the age of 18. Howe is a physical winger who is known for being a menace on the forecheck and excels at playmaking in tight spaces, and he also plays a pretty responsible two-way game.
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The 5-foot-11, 183-pound forward will likely spend the rest of the season with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, barring performance.
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